US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman "to reaffirm the strategic defense partnership" between the two nations, the Pentagon said Thursday.  "Secretary Austin reiterated recent changes in US policy toward the...

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and President of the European Council Charles Michel spoke over phone to discuss ways to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Following the conversation on Thursday evening, Michel tweeted that the European Union “supports the full implementation of the #JCPOA...

UN Yemen mediator Martin Griffiths on Thursday called for a stop to an offensive by the Houthi movement on the government-held city of Marib, warning that "the quest for territorial gain by force threatens all of the prospects of the peace process."

Tunisair workers will strike on Friday to protest the lack of a reform plan by the company and over the freezing of company accounts by an airport operator, their labour union said on Thursday. The strike is expected to affect flights, the Tunisair syndicate official for the country's main...

Joe Biden will make his presidential debut on the world stage on Friday as America's G7 partners re-focus their collective heft on pandemic recovery and climate change after the psychodramas of the Trump era. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this year's G7 chairman who hopes to host the...

The 2014 killing in Algeria of Gourdel was claimed by a jihadist faction affiliated to the Islamic State group. Gourdel, 55, was abducted while exploring the rugged massif in the North African nation's Djurdjura National Park, a draw for hikers, but also long a sanctuary for jihadists....

In an address to the nation, Tebboune said he will also carry out a government reshuffle and issued a pardon for dozens of jailed activists of the "Hirak" protest movement. The government has struggled to stem renewed Hirak protests. "I have decided to dissolved the National Popular...

The State Department said the U.S. would accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the participants in the original agreement. The U.S. has not participated in a meeting of those participants since former President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. “The...

An explosion in the Afghan capital on Thursday killed two lecturers at the Kabul University, after a bomb attached to the car they were traveling in went off, a police spokesman said. The attack took place around noon near the university, said Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. No...

Libya’s newly elected interim prime minister on Thursday held talks in Cairo with the Egyptian president as part of his efforts to galvanize support from regional powers and try to unify the fractured North African nation. Earlier this month, Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was elected as...

Lebanon's highest court on Thursday asked the chief prosecutor investigating last year's massive Beirut port explosion to step down, following legal challenges by senior officials he had accused of negligence that led to the blast, a judicial official and the country's official news agency...

The United Arab Emirates is sending 20,000 doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine to the Gaza Strip, a rival to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Thursday, in a decision that could have repercussions for upcoming elections. The announcement by Mohammed Dahlan came a day...

The Israeli army on Thursday said it has returned two shepherds who crossed into Israeli territory back to Syria, a development that an Israeli official said was part of an impending prisoner swap Syria had reported the previous day. Syria’s official news agency SANA said Wednesday that...

The Lebanese pound fell sharply on the black market Wednesday, trading over 9,000 to the dollar for the first time in months

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Wednesday after a month of silence that raised concerns in Israel about a frostier relationship between the two allies. Netanyahu's office was first to announce the conversation, releasing a photo of a...

Saudi Arabia wants to mediate between the parties in a longstanding dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam project and hold talks with their leaders, Sudan’s Council of Ministers said Wednesday.  Saudi Minister of State for African Affairs Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz Kattan has...

NATO has just under 10,000 troops in the war-ravaged country helping to train and advise the Afghan security forces. Most of them are not U.S. forces, but the allies could not continue the NATO operation if American transport, logistics and other support are withdrawn. President Joe Biden...

The United States has officially held the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) responsible for the killing of 13 kidnapped Turkish citizens in northern Iraq. US State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut...

A court in Jerusalem on Monday ordered six Palestinian families to vacate the homes they have lived in for nearly 70 years to make way for Jewish settlers. Israeli NGO Peace Now said in a statement yesterday that the Jerusalemite families, comprised of 27 people living in four houses,...

The terrorism trial of the man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” began on Wednesday with his argument that a Rwandan court cannot try him because he is no longer a citizen and his assertion that he was kidnapped and is being held hostage. The world has heard little from Paul...